Dana Loesch’s Face-to-Face Clash With Anti-Gun Advocate: ‘This Is About Due Process\

The Senate had a busy start to the week. By the end of the day Monday, Congress' upper chamber had rejected four new control amendments, two of those coming from Republicans.

Many Democrats angered by the day’s outcome blasted their Republican colleagues. Some even went so far as to claim that Republicans want to sell weapons to terrorists.

“We’ve got to make this clear, constant case that Republicans have decided to sell weapons to ISIS,” Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told the Washington Post, referring to the Islamic State terror group, adding, "Republicans, in refusing to close the terror gap, refusing to pass bans on assault weapons, are allowing these weapons to get in the hands of potential lone-wolf attackers."

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly invited TheBlaze's Dana Loesch to discuss the matter Monday evening on "The Kelly File."

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"Is it a bridge too far?" Kelly asked.

Here was Loesch's take:

It's definitely a bridge too far. Denying due process, and then comparing the denial of due process to actually giving guns to terrorists. ... Look, the [Obama] administration ... and the DOJ, Eric Holder, they were the ones who actually armed Mexican drug cartels. They walked guns across the border in Fast and Furious. So if they want to have that conversation, we can have that conversation. This is about due process. There are legal options there for them to exercise if they want to go ahead and they want to bar terrorists the right of purchase. ... They have the legal recourse to do it without infringing on the rights of innocent Americans.

Kelly then opened the floor to Bernie Sanders supporter Nomiki Konst, who offered her perspective.

Konst noted that one of the Republican-backed bills proposed Monday suggested a review period for terrorism suspects. This would entail a 72-hour review period during which the government would delay the purchase of a gun by anyone who is a terrorism suspect or has been the subject of a terrorism investigation within the last five years.

"The problem is, you have 58 Republicans who voted against this, and they have all collectively received $36 million from the NRA," Konst said. She also claimed that in 2014 alone, gun manufacturers poured $40 million dollars into lobbying Congress.

"This is why we have a problem here," she continued. "Nine out of 10 Americans, 71 percent of NRA members—"

"Don't forget Harry Reid," Loesch interjected.

"No, but 71 percent of NRA members agree that we should close out the terror loophole," Konst said.

Loesch asked Konst how she came up with her statistic given that the NRA member list is private.

"Yeah, I trust a poll that's actually been taken by Michael Bloomberg," Loesch said, turning to Kelly. "It was a push poll, Megyn. Seventy-two percent of the NRA list isn't public."

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Loesch told Kelly that a viable strategy for keeping guns out of the hands of terrorists is to open federal investigations.

"First of all, if you're already on the watchlist, it's going to be flagged if you try to make a purchase," Loesch explained. "The watch list didn't prevent the Orlando terorist."

Loesch claimed the only reason Orlando gunman Omar Mateen was taken off the list was "political correctness" because the FBI was "afraid because of what his coworkers said."

The FBI became aware of Mateen in 2013 when fellow employees at the private security facility where he worked reported that he claimed to have family connections to al Qaeda, FBI Director James Comey said. Mateen was also quoted as saying he hoped law enforcement would raid his apartment and assault his wife and child so that he could martyr himself.

Mateen was added to a terror watch list in 2013 when he was investigated but was removed soon after the 10-month probe ended, according to Comey. People who are in that database are not automatically barred from buying guns. Mateen purchased his weapons in June, long after his name was scratched from the list.

Watch:

Loesch explores the topic of gun control in her new book, "Flyover Nation," which was released Tuesday. Her argument is that groups of elitists stationed on the country's east and west coasts don't have a realistic grasp on the values and traditions of people in the heart of America.

"Flyover Nation" addresses questions like: "How can you be angry at Walmart if you’ve never shopped in one? How can you hate the police if you’ve never needed help from a cop? How can you attack Christians if you don’t have a single friend who goes to church?"

From the book's description:

How can you run a country you’ve never been to? And how much could our politics improve if Coastals would actually listen to their fellow Americans? This book is a rallying cry for anyone who wants our leaders to understand and respect the culture that made America exceptional in the first place.